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Introduction to Linux - A Hands on Guide

This guide was created as an overview of the Linux Operating System, geared toward new users as an exploration tour and getting started guide, with exercises at the end of each chapter.
For more advanced trainees it can be a desktop reference, and a collection of the base knowledge needed to proceed with system and network administration. This book contains many real life examples derived from the author's experience as a Linux system and network administrator, trainer and consultant. They hope these examples will help you to get a better understanding of the Linux system and that you feel encouraged to try out things on your own.

Gentoo Linux is a versatile and fast, completely free Linux distribution geared towards developers and network professionals. Unlike other distros, Gentoo Linux has an advanced package management system called Portage. Portage is a true ports system in the tradition of BSD ports, but is Python-based and sports a number of advanced features including dependencies, fine-grained package management, "fake" (OpenBSD-style) installs, safe unmerging, system profiles, virtual packages, config file management, and more.

Source based, but uses the excellent portage system (derived from the BSD portage? I believe). There is further documentation for portage.

I followed the instructions in the handbook for a "stage 3 + GRP" install.

The levels of installation seem to depend on how much you want to do yourself i.e. it's all about "choice". From what I could gather, you would need to have a fair bit of prior knowledge to do a stage 1 or 2 install. Whereas the stage 3 seemed to be pretty straight forward, plus, because installing software/applications etc would normally require the downloading, followed by the compiling of the download, it can take a considerable amount of time. The use of "GRP" (Gentoo Reference Platform) packages makes life considerable quicker, because the packages are pre-compiled.

That way, you can have a fully working gentoo install in a couple of hours.

I originally bought my discs from the gentoo organisation, as having played with a gentoo system elsewhere, figured I could assist in a very small way with a financial contribution.

The discs where the 2004.2 version. This did eventually present a minor problem, in that, in between ordering/installing, they (the gentoo org) had produced a newer version (2004.3), so when I'd finally got it installed and then went to do the updates, there was a considerable number of things that needed updating.

So the upgrade/update process took about two and a half days (my adsl net connection means that the actual downloading doesn't take that long, it's the compiling that takes forever).

There are some ways of speeding things up, but that seems to be mainly dependant on your equipment (loads of RAM, multi-processors, etc etc).

The gentoo org and gentoo community "kick the arse" out of the "choice" thing. Which IMO means that it's very easy to install lots of similar applications, but you then have to spend considerable time evaluating them to decide which one you prefer (media players being a good example).

Notwithstanding that, it's a bloody good distro, that only needs updating/upgrading once you've got it installed. Though patience seems to be a pre-requisite.

There is a considerable amount of documentation available at the gentoo.org site, mostly having been very well written compared to some distros (IMO that is).

I compiled gentoo-dev kernel ( 2.6.9-r13 )
You can have a high speed machine with gentoo.
You can optimize your programs and no need to install programs that you don't use.
You have a good control & you can lern lot about linux;-)
And about the portage system, I think it is the best package management system.
If you are a power user, gentoo is the all you need;-)

emerge is worth my seventy hour compile time (p3 1ghz 512sd ram). it's great, any program i want [emerge bitchx] it will download the source and install it for me. plus doing a stage 1 install despite what you may think, it's excellent for beginners as it teaches some basics of getting a system up and running. theres also distcc program, so you can distribute the compiling process over multiple systems. i'v meaning to give this a go on the dual (2ghz amdmp x 2) but not yet done so.

for me it was its stability and package manager that made it my main distro. well worth a try.

I have been using gentoo for about 4 months now, and performed 6 stage-1 installs. I love gentoo for its flexability in every aspect of the OS. The ability to compile literaly every package on the system from source, tuned specifically for your hardware, is amazing, and incredibly fast. The portage system lets you custom tune your system exactly how you want it. Upgrading packages is a snap. It even helps you merge configuration files too.

Some people complain about the long install process and the "difficulty" of the procedure. However, the install documents walk you through almost every step if you need it. Gentoo has some of the best documentation I have seen. If you let the longer parts of the install go overnight or while you are at work, you don't even notice the time.

The gentoo mentaility is that if you don't need it, you don't pay for it. That leaves the user to setting up a lot of configurations themself. It is also why gentoo is so fast. I have learned a heck of a lot about Linux through installation and configuration. Gentoo doesn't install unnecessary packages; you install what you want, and on your terms.

Gentoo does require a bit of reading though. Read the whole install doc, read up on kernels and modules, and don't be afraid to experiment. (You will have plenty of time for this during the build process :)

If you are just a point and click user, Gentoo is probably not for you. However, if you have always wanted to learn about the inner workings of Linux (or want an incredible fast and stable machine), then give Gentoo a try.

The learning curve isn't bad at all, and there is a lot of documentation out there. Gentoo is great for anything from a desktop environment, gaming machines, to laptops, and enterprise servers. Enjoy.

Ok lets start from the bottom up. Gentoo comes on a CD, and you only need to download a 51MB ISO which has all the programs needed to partition your drives, connect to your network and the internet, make file systems, install Gentoo's means of getting and installing packages (portage,) download and compile your kernel, write a fstab, install a bootloader and boot into your new linux distro.

All this sounds complicated, to which I say that you've been using Winbl0w$ or Macintoys too much. Do it the traditional way! You are going to learn a bunch about how linux works this way.

Once you've booted into your new linux system, you have to install programs. Nothing comes with Gentoo, so you can customize your distro 100%, for tons of programs, or a nice light distro that is easy on your hard drive. You have to install the X windows system, (I recommend Xorg,) setup your video card (nvidia writes fantastic binary drivers for linux,) pick and install a GUI, then all the spiffy programs you want. (You learn a ton about linux in all this; the manuals and community support are the best I've ever seen.) I've got GAIM (a IM program that handles MSN, AIM, ICQ, YIM, and a whole bunch of other protocals, Mozilla Firefox, Open Office, 3Ddesktop (this is a 3d app that switches between desktops; it looks so kick-ass and will impress your friends http://linuxreviews.org/features/3ddesktop/), the GIMP (a photoshop work-alike,) Celestia (a 3d browser of the Milky Way and a few other galaxies), and that's about it. That's all I use; there is no use in putting stuff on your box that you aren't going to use.

Installing apps is uber easy, through the BSD-like Portage, which is what makes Gentoo Gentoo. Ok, so I want firefox. I go to my command line, as root, and type emerge-firefox. The source is downloaded, compiled with and without specific things thanks to Portage (I'm on Gnome, so I don't need Qt, the KDE wigits, so why compile for Qt, slow down the program and loose space on my hard drive?) Firefox is added to the Gnome application menu, and I'm ready to go.

I'm all about keeping things light. No more than I need and everything that I do.

The downside to Gentoo is that you have to compile almost everything. There are binary packages avaliable in the Portage tree for big ones like Open Office, which I swear took atleast 40 minutes on my AMD 64 3700+! The trick is to put up with compile times whilst you are installing your base system. Then you come up with a bunch of programs you want. emerge then before you go to bed, and when you wake up... w00t! One of my friends slept next to his box while Xorg was compiling and woke up just before it finished. This guy is sensitive to such things, and he does it all the time, ROFLMAO!

After using Gentoo for a while, I have found it to be quite functional and well thought out. The package manager is well thought out and quite customizable, the community is great, and the documentation is the best I've seen of any linux distro.

So, why only a 7? Gentoo has a few issues that you must realize before diving in. Gentoo is one of the more challenging distros to install, and unless you've had experience in linux before you may find yourself lost and screwing things up.

Secondly there is the issue of using source packages instead of binary. While sometimes the programs seem noticeably faster, other times their isn't a noticable difference. The cost of using source packages can also be quite high if you have an older system. Installing software like Open Office.org can take around 5-6 hours on up to date computers.

Thirdly there are quirks now and then that you may encounter when trying to update your system. I've had issues that I had to work around when installing certain packages.

Overall it is a worthwhile distro if you aren't bothered by the time needed to learn about Gentoo and the time you'll waste compiling your programs. If you are using an older computer and/or you can't waste time waiting for programs to compile I'd suggest looking at a binary based distro.

Everything seems really nice... except I couldn't get it to install entirely, when I tried to emerge some of the packages I wanted to install it would sometimes take a really long time and then fail to download it at all.

I tried do a stage1 install a few times and always got stuck on emerging the system (pretty important :S) and it would not let me emerge it...

So then I tried a stage3 install (since stage2 would already be done for me) and I got stuck on downloading a bootloader...

The whole amount of time that it took me to fail at installing this distro while reading a copy of the installation guide from the www.gentoo.org was about 2 days for the stage1 (because of bootstrapping process) and about 3 days for the stage3 because that's about how long it took to download, or fail to download something, or compile something.

Honest, the install was quite good fun! Its ace seeing the code for your OS flying past you as a blur, and you can say "I built by operating system from the feet up, unlike you lazy window$ (tm) users!" (swap window$ with whatever distro/OS.)
Portage is a joy to work with compared to RPMs and the like. You want to do something? Program not there? "emerge program" -wait- its there! It is that easy, rpms you have to mess about with a gui or finding the things etc. but with portage its just there on hand. The whole system is very stable, well its never crashed and I run it at 100% cpu with Folding so I'd say thats stable.
Ok, compiling EVERYTHING does take its time but so what? You always get the best settings for your computer and that latest code. People say that you need to know what linux is about before trying gentoo, I'd dissagree - the docs are so good I bet a n00b could follow them with only a little help on stuff like what a swap /boot etc. IS, I used to be synical about the gentoo docs, but it turns out that if you READ them rather than just scanning them then typing random stuff it works ;-)
Top marks to Gentoo docs people, very clear and to the point. If you want a fast stable and streamlined distro and you want it enough to play with nano, then give gentoo a shot. Mandrake-fedora-gentoo, thats how it should be done, forget slack/debian/redhat/suse etc. Gentoo is just SO smooth! (btw I quite like it ;-)
I did a stage 1, and lets be honest its not that hard, it does it all for you! Lets smash those miths that Gentoo is too hard to install, its not - Fedora caused more probs than Gentoo for me, no gui! Shock horror! Honest, give it a shot.

Customizable, get what you want, program configuration seems easier than other distros

Cons:

Not for the Newbie

The initial installation is the real "problem". After this, life is good.
The installation takes time because everything is compiled and you are learning what you're doing. But the documentation is awesome and usually you have to just follow the instructions line-by-line and you're fine.

One thing I want to point out is that there ARE ways to get around the "updating takes forever syndrom". With portage, you can check for updated packages (emerge sync or emerge-websync). Then you can install updated packages for you system (emerge --update world). To "avoid" all the wait, simply create a script that checks for updates and installs them. Then put that script in cron and have it run every other night, when you're asleep. You'll be checking for updates often and when it does update, you'll wake up to see your computer happier than the day before!

Just a suggestion for those who may think that they'll have to sit and wait all afternoon for their computer to update and can't use the computer.

Best distro I've had (I used to think Debian was...but Gentoo has a few more "ups" to it).

I have played with several Linux distros over the past few years and found many that were excellent, but after experiencing Gentoo, I don't think I will ever use much of anything else. As far as all the junk about it being difficult to install - just follow the Gentoo Handbook and look up anything you do not understand and you will have no problems. The installation itself would also serve as a great tutorial for those still attempting to learn the some of the ins and outs of the command line. The compile time is not a negative - even if it takes you days to compile everything (and it very well might), the less bloated, faster system and the useful knowledge that you acquire far outweigh the value of your time. This distro is totally bangin.

What the other reviews don't seem to convey is the advantage of compiling from source. You set compiler options during install to optimize for your specific processor architecture. For example, an excerpt from /etc/make.conf:
CFLAGS="-O2 -march=athlon-xp -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer -mfpmath=sse"
-O2 means second level of optimization
-march=athlon-xp enables processor specific features (mmx, sse, 3dnow)
-pipe speeds up compile time (use pipes instead of files in /tmp)
-fomit-frame-pointer well, I'm not sure what this does but my computer runs like lightning
-mfpmath=sse use SSE processor extension for floating-point math (whenever possible)

There are a few other optimizations, many unstable. These are pretty safe and conservative. Perhaps the most notorious example of gentoo users trying to go overboard with optimizing.

I have eventually reached Gentoo after a journey through Windows 95, XP, Red Hat and SuSE.

It is a distro for those who want that warm fuzzy feeling of someone who thinks they know something others might not know, that from-first-principles kind of distro. And as for a first-principle distro, this is awesome. They understand what documentation is about and they understand what a community is about.

Excellent package management, small base system and excellent documentation

Cons:

Installation is a bit involved, installing packages from source is a lengthy process

Gentoo is one of those distributions that I have always had in mind when I wanted to try a new challenge in Linux after having used Debian for a fairly long period and being confident with it.

I will now review different aspects of this "meta-distribution" and explain some aspects of Gentoo that may confound a newbie.

Installation

Now admittedly this is the hardest part about Gentoo and is enough to scare away most newbies from trying this fantasic distro. Actually it requires quite a bit of preparation and basically understand the reasons for performing all those steps outlined in the handbook. I spent three days in reading and re-reading this excellent document before beginning my journey, so it is no wonder that the installation went totally smooth for me. I downloaded a stage 3 tarball (for athlon-xp architecture) and installed my system from there from within Debian.

It is definitely much easier to do the install from a GUI environment so that you can have a browser window open and read the handbook while performing the steps. I recommend using an existing distro (if you have one) or using a LiveCD like Knoppix to do the Gentoo installation rather than rely on pure command line mode of the Gentoo LiveCD.

The kernel configuration is the only tricky part and even this can be done automatically using a tool called "genkernel" if you are not inclined to configure it yourself. However, kernel compilation is very easy and I recommend that the more experienced people do the configuring and compiling on their own rather than rely on "genkernel". For newbies, using "genkernel" is better.

Software package management

After all that hard work of installing Gentoo, all you get is a basic command-line Linux with a few tools installed. Now most desktop users like me will want a GUI environment like KDE or Gnome and this is very easy to obtain as well.

Actually this is the best part of Gentoo. Dependencies are handled automatically by "portage" system and it really works. If you don't have access to binary packages, be prepared to allow your system to download and compile the sources through the night while you're asleep. KDE will especially take a *long* time to compile so patience is a key here. On the other hand, you have the option of installing pre-compiled binaries and there is documentation for this in the official Gentoo website.

Configuring hardware and devices

Actually this is an excellent thing about compiling your own kernel. While other distros come with pre-compiled kernels which may or may not have the modules to support your hardware, with Gentoo you can easily configure a kernel to compile support for your hardware right at the beginning.

I also recommend installing "coldplug" which detects hardware at bootup and loads the necessary modules during startup, although the more experienced users might want to do this manually and thus save some booting time.

Overall

Gentoo is a meta-distribution, meaning that you choose what you want to install on your system and also make a system that is tailored to your needs.

The documentation is excellent and covers almost every aspect of use (from desktop use, configuring 3d acceleration, installing ALSA and MIDI support). With Gentoo, you can anything from a full-fledged single user desktop system to a server system that runs light on the command line without too many frills. It also allows you to get what *you* want rather than dumping a whole lot of binaries on your system.

Mind you. Be warned that installing packages from source is a very lengthy process and each time you wish to install a big program, it will take hours to compile.

The key then, is to plan and build a system. You choose, you build and you watch your plain-vanilla Linux system grow into a full fledged power desktop or a fast, no-frills server system.

Gentoo is my distribution of choice for all of my boxes these days. While, as an experienced linux user, the installation was quite simple and straightforward with the Gentoo Handbook, I think a number of users would be intimidated by the shell work that has to be done during the install. Hopefully we'll see a fully-featured installation script coming out as a full part of the distribution soon.
I don't claim Gentoo to be "faster": I do claim it to be more customizable. Why compile in support for things I don't need? Compilation can be offloaded to distcc and run overnight, so compile time is hardly a problem worth thinking about.
Portage is the best package management system I've seen from all of the distributions I have tried. I have yet to have a dependency problem like I had under RedHat (and let's not go there on Slackware). The software available through portage is, in my opinion, unrivaled. On my system, there are more than 10,000 packages listed.
The Gentoo community is probably the biggest plus to using Gentoo. I don't know if it comes from the large developer base, the newness of the distribution, or what, but I have found no community like it for any other distribution. (Just look at what channel on the Freenode IRC network has the most users at virtually any time--about 1000: #gentoo) I feel that although it's just a distribution of an operating system, it also gives you a feeling of being part of a community.

I think that Gentoo Linux is probably the best choice I ever made in linux. I used to use more on the side of Redhat and Fedora distros but I wanted something that was more customizable for my needs and hardware.

One of the things I love about gentoo is its packaging system. With other distros Like fedora, one version of a distribution may be very different then another version. This could be major system changes to bug fixes...etc

With gentoo you build an ultra stable operation system that is built with the most current/stable source.
People always say that Gentoo is very hard. This isnt really true at all. The gentoo manual pages are step-by-step and can lead you right to
a booted system.

I first started with a stage 3 Gentoo install, thinking that gentoo was very hard and I may not even to be able to complete it. I was literly walked by the online manuals through the install.

One of the things that is great in these manuals is the choices you can make along the way....besides the great support that is behind gentoo, through manuals, web pages, forums and irc Gentoo really let me take control of what I wanted in my distro, and nothing more or less.
I then went back to the manuals and asked a few questions on efnet, and
had gnome setup with the programs I wanted, and not what the developers wanted or thought I should have.

I was later thinking about moving on from a stage 3 and start going more deep with stage 2 and eventually stage 1.
well actually I skipped right to a stage 1 2004.3 Gentoo install because I was surprised to learn that the stage 2 was just one more step then I had done in my previous installs.
After getting through a stage 1 install, I actualy asked a few people if I had messed up somewhere, because I had read so much about a stage1 being extremely hard, and one would need to know a whole lot more about linux....this was not the case.
Gentoo is not hard at all, it just has alot of steps in the process to getting a fully working system.

Gentoo Linux has changed the way I run my servers, my desktop and has taught me a lot more about how linux works then hiding behind a GUI such as fedora or SuSE! I highly recommend at least having a go at Gentoo because I think you'll find how fast it really is, and how stable it runs.

I am quite a newbie to Linux and tried out a couple of quick install distros (e.g. Mandrake). While they are easy to install, I have to admit that the installation process of Gentoo itself quite helped me to understand of what is happening in the background. The handbook is clearly written and explains complicate matters in a way that I as a newbie could understand them. Even if it takes longer than other distros, I have the impression that Gentoo teaches its newbies better.